Future of Education in America Depends On Acceleration of School Choice
During a discussion at the Brookings Institution on the future of school choice and No Child Left Behind reauthorization efforts, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander had an interesting exchange with Claudio Sanchez of National Public Radio (NPR).
Sanchez asked Alexander since the Supreme Court has ruled school vouchers to be constitutional, (see: Zelman v. Simmons-Harris), then why hasn’t the creation of voucher programs accelerated at a faster pace?
Alexander responded that the school choice movement, “hasn’t had enough Polly Williamses” to truly move vouchers forward in an accelerated fashion.
To give a little background, the late Polly Williams was a state Democratic lawmaker from Wisconsin who worked tirelessly with the Governor at that time, Republican Tommy Thompson, to install the first modern-day voucher program for low-income students in Milwaukee.
Williams and the school choice advocates of that era ignited a spark that would lead to the creation of voucher programs in 14 states and the District of Columbia, serving over 100,000 students and counting.
This is definitely progress, but as the premise of Sanchez’s initial question suggests, the school choice movement hasn’t gone fast enough.
New research from Dr. Matthew Ladner shows an 8.4 million projected increase in the number of school-aged children between 2010 and 2030. And many of these state level education systems are simply not equipped to handle this influx.
This trend, combined with a growing number of Baby Boomers entering retirement, will make the current levels of K-12 spending completely unsustainable.
Ladner recommends a multitude of school choice avenues as opposed to any one particular policy in order to adapt to the growing student population. Increased parental choice and operational autonomy in education will yield more cost-effective solutions, in addition to a greater return on investment.
The clock is ticking. The time to accelerate is now.
Comments
Join the conversation
I’m sorry, haven’t we had this debate before? Like all the way back in the 1830’s even? I feel like the educational policy pendulum is swinging again, and an acceleration is just going to make is swing back the other way. First we want individualized education for every student. Then its the common school, where we want an equal education for all, making sure every student has the same opportunity. But then we realize that not every student learns the same or comes with the same background and experience – and it’s back to individualized learning and putting students in the right environments for success. I’m not against school choice, and yet I’m also not for it. I don’t see educational policy learning from it’s past, and that is at the root of my frustration. We haven’t fixed public education, and I agree that students and families should have some say in where they go to school. But we also have fixed these voucher, charter school, open enrollment issues. How do you successfully market these programs to both families from middle class and low SES backgrounds? How do you ensure that each student, no matter their profile (SES, ethnicity, religion, ability, learning style) all have the same access to the program, and reap the same benefits – or even more than that – EQUITABLE benefits. Jumping on the bandwagon of the latest trend is not the answer. A critical look at the policies, and the unintended consequences of those policies, is vital. We must learn from the past.